Population 12,594 (2004) | Demonym(s) Moding Local time Wednesday 12:25 PM | |
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Weather 10°C, Wind W at 13 km/h, 38% Humidity Points of interest Blaafarveværket, Krøderen Line, Haugfossen, Drammenselva, Finnemarka | ||
Modum is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).
Contents
Map of Modum, Norway
The area has a long tradition of skiing with several famous skiers. Modum is home to one of the largest ski jumping hills in the world, Vikersundbakken. The hill record, established in 2011 is an amazing jump of 246.5 metres (809 ft).
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Modum farm (Old Norse: Móðheimr), since the first church was built here. The first element is móða which means "river" (here the Drammenselva river) and the last element is heimr which means "home", "homestead", or "farm". The name of the farm was later changed to Buskerud.
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 15 March 1985. The arms show three wavy silver lines “party per bend sinister” on a blue background. They represent the three main rivers in the municipality: Drammenselva, Snarumselva, and Simoa and the colour blue represents Blaafarveværket.
Geography
The municipality is bordered in the north by Krødsherad and Ringerike, in the east by Hole and Lier, in the south by Øvre Eiker, and in the west by Sigdal.
The municipality has three main villages: Åmot, Geithus, and the municipality administrative center of Vikersund. Åmot is the starting point for the Kunstnerdal. Here is where the Blaafarveværket is located. That includes a cobalt museum, art institutions, and a children’s barn yard.
Notable people
Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Modum: